A digitizer tablet is a form of an input device by means of which information can be inputted into a data processing system such as a personal computer. The tablet has a work face covering a grid of wires. Information is entered by moving an electronic stylus over the surface of the work face. The stylus contains an electromagnet which inductively interacts with the grid of wires to produce signals indicating the position of the stylus. The tablet also contains a liquid crystal display in which, as such signals are produced by movement of the stylus in proximity to the wire grid, liquid crystal pixels are selectively actuated to present to the user a visual display indicating where the stylus has moved over the work face. Digital signals indicating the position of the stylus are also inputted into a data processing system and stored therein.
The electronic stylus may be wireless in the sense that no wires nor cable physically connects or tethers the stylus to the tablet, and this poses a problem which the present invention addresses. The problem is that the stylus is relatively expensive while being relatively small and easy to lose or misplace if care is not exercised in storing the stylus when it is not being used. This problem appears to be known in the art but the solutions to it are different from the invention. For example, PC Week, Vol. 8, No. 27, page 1, May 27, 1991 shows a tablet and a wireless stylus that is stored in a compartment running along one side of the tablet. The compartment is covered by a door and the stylus appears to be loosely placed in the compartment for storage.